Live In My Own Mind
by RilkaGreenRider
Summary: A oneshot inspired by the idea that all of the Labyrinth was just a dream. Or was it? Vaguely JS, can be seen as a Dark Jareth fic. It's all up to the interpretation of the reader


Sarah walked slowly along the street, heading for her house. The sky was a beautiful blue, and the air was scented with the smells of spring. Two years had passed since her adventure in the Labyrinth. Two years of normality in which Sarah realized that her step-mother was not as wicked as the young teen had believed, and that her father had enough love for both the new baby and herself. Toby was in the stage of selfish screaming and tantrums, and Sarah had gone for a walk to get out of the house. She inhaled deeply, and thought about the past years.

The morning after her adventure, Karen caught Sarah talking to her mirror. Though her step-mother had given her a strange look, all the blonde had done was tell her that breakfast was ready. The teen had apologized for her recent bad behavior, and had gone so far as to offer to help set the table. A few weeks later, after several more incidents of Sarah being caught talking to various mirrors in the house, Karen and Robert managed to convince Sarah to tell them the tale. Her parents hadn't believed her of course, but they thought it was a harmless fantasy brought on by the teen's idolization of her actress mother. Sarah let them believe it, since she didn't want to talk to a shrink about it. Slowly, Sarah had drifted away from fantasy. Her life as a seventeen-year-old student had enough drama without adding to it.

A loud noise from a nearby tree stopped the former dreamer in her tracks. Her unremarkable green eyes searched for the source, a strange yearning visible in her eyes. Her straight dark hair gently wrapped around her neck as she twisted her head to look all around. There. From across the street, a barn owl stared at her. Its gaze seemed so familiar and for a moment Sarah could almost hear music swirling around her.

…_such a fooled heart…_

…_every thrill has gone…_

…_falling in love…_

For a moment she stared before turning a fleeing towards her house. Her room was a safe haven where no owl could follow. She dashed past her confused step-mother and slammed her bedroom door shut. Shuddering, she reached for one of her teddies and held it close. Longing swamped her, but for an unknown reason. Her eyes filled with tears and she hugged the stuffed animal close to her. It took a few moments to realize that the animal had grown, and was hugging her back. She pulled away in fright only to throw herself back into Ludo's arms.

"Sawah sad." A large, orange arm scooped the girl up and held her tight, crooning a strange melody. The sound calmed the girl, and she loosened her hold on her old friend. She smiled, and opened her eyes to find herself lying on the floor near the door, clutching a teddy. With a soft, loving smile, Sarah placed him back where he belonged. She wiped her eyes and ran downstairs to play with little Toby. Her step-mother shrugged off the teen's earlier attitude as hormones, and went back to cooking.

Much later that night, Sarah awoke suddenly. Moonlight was streaming in the window, and a dark, menacing figure stood watching her. Sarah screamed, sitting up quickly. The figure held up a hand in silent reprimand.

"W-what do you want, Goblin King?" Yes, Sarah recognized the imposing figure. He had haunted her dreams ever since the night she wished Toby away. Jareth smirked, and held out a hand to Sarah.

"I have come for you, Sarah." Outside her bedroom, Sarah could hear her father trying to open the door and demanding to know who the intruder was. The girl was frozen with indecision. For all her fancy words and dramatic monologues, Sarah had wanted Jareth from the start. She wanted him to love her. She wanted the Labyrinth to have been all about her. Still, somewhere in her heart of hearts, Sarah did not trust the Goblin King. She shook her head silently in denial. The pounding on the door ceased, and Sarah could hear her name being called, over and over. Her eyes were glued to Jareth's eyes, and she could not look away.

"Come away, O Sarah child. To the waters and the wild" Visions of the Labyrinth danced within crystals surrounding the girl on the bed. She saw Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus traipsing about the countryside. She saw mermaids dancing upon lapis waves, and dragons twisting through the air.

"With a Goblin, hand in hand" The goblin city spun before her eyes. Hundreds of goblins were cheering and waving at her, begging her to simply speak a greeting and improve their day. Sarah saw a vision of herself, dressed in a beautiful white and gold dress, wearing a crown wrought of purest gold. She stood beside Jareth, and he smiled lovingly at his Queen.

"For this world's more full of weeping than you can understand." Dark crystals hovered near her waist. In one she saw her parents screaming and weeping as paramedics loaded her conscious yet unresponsive body into an ambulance headed for the Psyc ward. In another, her real mother was being lowered into a coffin. A third crystal showed herself lying in a hospital bed while nurses stuck her with needles. A doctor shook his head while speaking to Robert and Karen.

Sarah looked at all the images, and smiled innocently at the triumphant Jareth. She uncoiled herself from the bed, and walked forward, reaching to take his hand. As they passed out of the world of the Aboveground, Sarah's last thought was that she had always known she was meant to be a Fairy Queen.

Months later, a new intern at Hope Creek Psychiatric Facility entered room 204. His spiky blonde hair was tied back, and his mismatched eyes held no end of amusement and pity as they gazed upon the lone occupant of the room. She was dressed in the white tunic of a permanent resident, and her eyes stared unseeing at the wall. A girl, with unremarkably green eyes, and long dark hair.


End file.
